Apple iPad mini event indeed likely to be held Tuesday, October 23

Apple looks set to unveil their long-rumored, eagerly anticipated new iPad mini at a special media event just over two weeks from now. According to John Paczkowski of All Things D, however, it'll be the Tuesday, October 23 rather than the traditional Wednesday.

People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company will unveil the so-called “iPad mini” on Oct. 23 at an invitation-only event. [...] Sources declined to specify where the event is to be held, and I’ve not been able to confirm a location.

The week matches up with what I've heard, and it's really the only viable week left given that Apple had set the introduction for October. Tuesday is unusual but not unheard of, and while Paczkowski points out that it's 3 days before the expected launch of the Microsoft Surface it's also the day before Samsung's Next Big Thing event in New York City for that Wednesday (for the Galaxy Note II) .

Paczkowski also thinks the iPad mini event will likely be held at the Apple campus in Cupertino, given that Apple already held the large iPhone 5 + Music event at Yerba Buena in San Francisco.

The most interesting question remains -- how will Apple fill the keynote?

The new Macs should get some slide time, but we already saw the first Retina Mac back in June at WWDC, and some Macs don't have screens anyway. iTunes 11 was already previewed last month, so the bulk of that is done. The updated iPad 3 still makes more sense as a "by the way, we've also added a Lightning connector and international LTE to the new iPad" so no recent buyers feel jilted.

That leaves the iPad mini as the star of the show, and while it's physically amazing, it's still an iPad. What could Apple show off on it that would fill out most of a keynote?

It will only be exciting if the price is right. They have to get this right or it's over! They can't give it away but the price has to be competitive and this iPad Mini has to offer something special to intrigue buyers to jump ship from the other tablet markets.

What's over? It's an iPad; doesn't matter too much what they price it at, people will but it. I'm guessing $299.00 for a 16GB model.

"jump ship from the other tablet markets"

What other tablet markets? The tablet sales are dismal for anything other than an iPad. Most people with an Android tablet only have it because they didn't want to spend the $$ on an iPad, or they have some hatred against Apple and bought another brand out of spite.

@pappy53, you do realize that 51% of a big market is more units sold than 81% of a small market, right?? Percentage market share means _nothing_ without context. Apple is selling more of each model iPad (and iPhone for that matter) that it brings out. Sales (which is what brings in profit) are not falling.

Okay, dipstick, let's get something straight. I am not a troll, as everything that I have is Apple (phone, iMac, and iPad2). I did not say that sales were falling, only that marketshare was falling. Apple is not the only game in town, anymore, just as we have seen with the Android phone dominance in the market. Now Microsoft is sitting on the horizon with their new tablet, which looks interesting.

The price is important when you are buying for multiple kids and grand kids. I am a huge Apple Fan but, honestly, the new iPod Touch - as beautiful as it is - is far too expensive. If they had designed a wider version then the price would be justified. Kids don't care about the aesthetics and retina display - they just want the device to work and offer the best bang for their buck. Tons of Apps, Music, Movies, Reading material - this is what matters.

Announce multiple profiles for iPad to make it further solidify its role in post PC;

Announce iPa mini as a single user "personal" device like the iPhone already is (and the iPad 3 no longer should be);

Something new for Mac Mini,; retina Thunderbolt Display; iTunes streaming (so those of us on iTunes Match can clear out some of the 25k songs filling up the SSD memories of our MBAs and iOS devices); updates on iTV and maps, might also be good candidates to fill the bill.

Retina Thunderbolt display has to wait for a bit. Same with Retina iMacs. Current Thunderbolt tech can't support the bandwidth of an ultra high resolution 27". Might not get that until next year or even the year after.

The mini seems perfect for an education market, so continuing the education event with more textbook and education features could make sense. I would also love to see more iTunes 11, but that's not too likely.

Also I wonder if the mini release will be Nov 2, so Friday morning. If the event is slightly earlier, do they push the release from the traditional release date too?

A long shot: the new Mac Pro. Yes, Tim said next year, but he meant next Fiscal year, as he often does. The real question is, when are they going to start lowering the price of flash memory. Given that SSDs are going for less than $1/GB, Apple's 3+$ price is obscene.

Since Steve Jobs is no longer around to allow only the best items to come from Apple and to trash all the bad ideas. All the items that he didn't want released is now making its way to light and will only bring Apple down with it. Steve had his reason why he didn't want a iPad mini, but now that he's gone, any idea is a potential money maker in Tim Cooks eyes.
Do you really think Steve would have let Apple maps be released?? no, but Tim wanted to stick it to Google and look what a failure that was to Apple.
Steve approved of the designs for every product, and now that he's gone they are looking to old drawings that were probably shelved by Steve because they didn't meet his standards and that is why they can't make a better looking product.